Becoming Culturally Responsive Science Teachers
Culturally responsive teaching is based on the idea that culture is central to student learning. Several
cultures intersect in the classroom: the students’ and teachers multiple cultures, the culture of science,
and the culture of school. Tied to these cultures are ways of thinking that are important for learning
both in and outside of school. For educators the challenge is explaining mainstream culture while
recognizing, respecting, and using students' identities and backgrounds as meaningful sources for
creating optimal learning environments (Nieto, 2000; The Education Alliance, 2004).
Specifically we will examine four dimensions of culturally responsive science teaching: 1) recognizing
our own and others’ worlds, 2) developing relationships to form inclusive communities, 3) providing
access (to the culture of science and school) through curriculum and instruction, and 4) critiquing,
challenging, and changing the culture of school and school science.
On Thursday we will discuss how to apply some of what you are learning in your multicultural
education course to our science teaching. For example Banks’ theory of multicultural education can
help us better understand how to become culturally responsive teachers and help us be accountable to
each of our students. The goal is to be purposeful about becoming culturally responsive science
teachers.
Excerpt from Banks, 1995. Handbook of research on multicultural education. New York: Macmillan.
Multicultural education promotes critical analyses of our society and its institutions. Students develop
critical thinking skills in schools and classrooms where they are free to ask questions and examine
course content, the media, popular culture and themselves for biases. The defining characteristic of a
multicultural school is not the demographic makeup of the student body, but the willingness to ask,
"Who's voice is not being heard? Why wasn't it included?" and, "How can this be changed?"
One of the goals of multicultural education is to acknowledge the experiences and perspectives of
oppressed groups that are commonly excluded from mainstream academia (eg. racial, ethnic, class,
gender, etc.). To accomplish this, the traditional Western canon used in shaping the curriculum must be
reformulated and transformed to teach "a more truthful, complex and diverse version of the West" in
schools. (Banks, 1994, p. 4) Rather than excluding traditional Western perspectives and
accomplishments, multicultural education seeks to incorporate those of people of color and women
into the canon. It celebrates the pluralism of our society while helping students to understand the
common traditions and heritage that unite us.
Within multicultural education, the organization and practices of a school recognize and accommodate
all students and families. Teaching methods are altered according to the learning styles of students.
Language differences are respected and parents are included in school planning and events. The
grouping practices of the school are revised to allow all students to participate and excel in challenging
courses.
Multicultural education aims to eliminate prejudice, racism and all forms of oppression. To do this, "it
is imperative that multicultural educators give voice and substance to struggles against oppression and
develop the vision and the power of our future citizens to forge a more just society." (Sleeter, 1991, p.
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22) Multicultural education addresses issues of white privilege, challenges the status quo, and compels
students and teachers to identify their own biases. It increases awareness and understanding of racism,
how it has shaped our society in the past and the manifestations of racism, classism and oppression in
the contemporary world.
The Dimensions of Multicultural Education
I have identified five dimensions of multicultural education. They are: content integration, the
knowledge construction process, prejudice reduction, an equity pedagogy, and an empowering school
culture and social structure (Banks, 1995a). Although the five dimensions of multicultural education
are highly interrelated, each requires deliberate attention and focus.
content
integration
prejudice
reduction
empowering
school culture
and social
structure
Dimensions of
Multicultural
Education
an equity
pedagogy
the knowledge
construction
process
1. Content integration deals with the extent to which teachers use examples and content from a
variety of cultures and groups to illustrate key concepts, generalizations, and issues within their subject
areas or disciplines.
2. The knowledge construction process describes how teachers help students to understand,
investigate, and determine how the biases, frames of reference, and perspectives within a discipline
influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed within it (Banks, 1996). Students also learn how
to build knowledge themselves in this dimension.
3. Prejudice reduction describes lessons and activities used by teachers to help students to develop
positive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Research indicates that children
come to school with many negative attitudes toward and misconceptions about different racial and
ethnic groups (Phinney & Rotheram, 1987). Research also indicates that lessons, units, and teaching
materials that include content about different racial and ethnic groups can help students to develop
more positive intergroup attitudes if certain conditions exist in the teaching situation (Banks, 1995b).
These conditions include positive images of the ethnic groups in the materials and the use of
multiethnic materials in a consistent and sequential way.
4. An equity pedagogy exists when teachers modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the
academic achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural, and social-class groups (Banks &
Banks, 1995). Research indicates that the academic achievement of African American and Mexican
American students is increased when cooperative teaching activities and strategies, rather than
competitive ones, are used in instruction (Aronson & Gonzalez, 1988). Cooperative learning activities
also help all students, including middle-class White students, to develop more positive racial attitudes.
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However, to attain these positive outcomes, cooperative learning activities must have several important
characteristics (Allport, 1954). The students from different racial and ethnic groups must feel that they
have equal status in intergroup interactions, teachers and administrators must value and support crossracial interactions, and students from different racial groups must work together in teams to pursue
common goals.
5. An empowering school culture and social structure is created when the culture and organization
of the school are transformed in ways that enable students from diverse racial, ethnic, and gender
groups to experience equality and equal status. The implementation of this dimension requires that the
total environment of the school be reformed, including the attitudes, beliefs, and action of teachers and
administrators, the curriculum and course of study, assessment and testing procedures, and the styles
and strategies used by teachers.
To implement multicultural education effectively, teachers and administrators must attend to each of
the five dimensions of multicultural education described above. They should use content from diverse
groups when teaching concepts and skills, help students to understand how knowledge in the various
disciplines is constructed, help students to develop positive intergroup attitudes and behaviors, and
modify their teaching strategies so that students from different racial, cultural, and social-class groups
will experience equal educational opportunities. The total environment and culture of the school must
also be transformed so that students from diverse ethnic and cultural groups will experience equal
status in the culture and life of the school.
Excerpt from Atwater, 2001. Science Education & Black Americans.
All students seek acceptance, belonging, success, and enjoyment. Consequently, multicultural science
teachers give their students the opportunity to reason about science, to argue about alternative
explanations for their science results, and to test their ideas and those of others (Atwater, Crockett, &
Kilpatrick, 1996). Science teacher candidates are more likely to become multicultural teachers if they
make connections between the knowledge about cultures of various groups and its relevance to
effective teaching practices. These teachers learn how to think strategically about: (1) learners—their
differences and their different needs; (2) the interactions of Black American learners with science, the
particular school, and community context; and (3) ways to engage their learners with important
substantive scientific ideas (Oakes, 1996).
Black Americans are not homogeneous in their thinking and understanding of science; however, most
Black Americans have experienced discrimination (Hill et al., 1993). Therefore, the way Black
Americans view their opportunity to learn science in a classroom is based on their prior and present
experiences in society and science classes (Atwater, 1994; Atwater, Crockett, & Kilpatrick, 1996).
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For historically marginalized groups in science (young women, low-income students, and ethnic minorities) additional issues to think
about include…
Classroom Interaction & AtmosphereAre girls called on as frequently? Are girls
and boys given equal wait time? How can I
keep track of these patterns? Are all
students being encouraged to take risks?
When students ask for help do I encourage
all students to think or answer the question
for some of them?
Testing and assessmentdoes the content appealingCan all students relate to the
content used in assessments?
History of the domain- What
perspectives have dominated the
science field and have shaped
what counts as science? How can
I help my students think critically
about this?
Gender, Race & SES
Equity Issues
in Science
Peers’, teachers, parents & societal
expectations- How do others
expectations shape the young women/men
in my classroom? Are there certain norms
that I am reinforcing or challenging? How
do my expectations as a teacher play out
in my interactions with certain students?
Curriculum materials- Are
there sex stereotypes in the
curriculum? How do I
acknowledge gender biases in
these materials?
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Notes from Geneva Gay on becoming culturally responsive science teachers
1. What do students bring to class? A knowledge of themselves, they know themselves very well,
just as you know your science content well – get them to help you with the information you need
about them – get them to tell you about themselves
2. Get some primers abut multicultural education and start studying- you can’t expect to know all
about each ethnic group in the first year, but you’ll learn, just as you’ve learned science content
3. Students can be lazy – get them involved, have high expectations
4. Gender and equity – when do we find about women of color anywhere in our curriculum?
Introduce your concepts with references and information about groups that get left out
5. Take abstract concepts, take these concepts to their real lives, and then bring those real-life
examples back to the abstract concept – make connections for your students
6. Carter G. Woodson, one of the most important black scientists that most folks know nothing about
– he was an expert on peanuts (talk to kids about peanut butter and introduce them to Woodson)
7. A black girl who wants to be a cosmetologist has to know about chemistry and hair – take those
science concepts and use real-life examples for illustration/teaching
8. Food is something all students can relate to – you could just teach nutrition and integrate many
scientific concepts into this subject
9. Blacks experience more diabetes than the general population; teach about diabetes and its causes,
chemistry, etc. What kinds of things can you teach that are relevant to your black students?
10. Lactose intolerance and asthma – more subjects that would have relevance in a diverse classroom
11. Transforming the environment – Jerry Lipka working with Alaska natives – teaches math and
science through the culture of his students; everything in the curriculum relates to where these
students are coming from
12. Terry McCarty, “A Place to be Navaho” – did the same thing as Lipka with Native Americans
13. Kids can learn helplessness – this can be due in part because some don’t have an understanding of
the “words” of science – make kids rephrase what they think so that you are sure they are
understanding; make them write and explain how they interpret what you are teaching them
14. Students have trouble turning the “cultural code” into “academic code” – they have trouble making
the transition; teachers speak so much in “academic code” – try to find a voice that relates to where
the students are; begin where they are and help them make transition from there to abstract or
academic concept
15. Eavesdrop on students – what are they saying that you can use? “Hooked up” – what does that
mean to them and how can you turn it into a science word/concept? Scientific synonyms
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16. Translate what I just gave you into your language – have fun and be playful – science is not
sacrosanct
17. Do you have to be an expert at what you’re teaching? You need to know enough to know how to
know. If you had to know everything, you wouldn’t teach anything.
18. Give them some of your insights, your experiences, and then try to get theirs.
19. Build foundations for community in the classroom. Do you have a name you would like to be
called, is there something that makes you angry, when are you having the most fun in a classroom,
etc. are pieces of information to get from your students to build this sense of community
20. You don’t have to teach all positions, but you do need to acknowledge different ideas, methods,
etc. There can be a way/method/idea that works better than others and that’s your job to show the
students this “better way” but do provide the evidence for this “better way”
21. Model what you want from students (my model is know, think, feel, do) – there is a bias in any
form of knowledge but there is a way we want students to engage and to think – MODEL IT
22. Style shifting – students need to know how to shift from their cultural style (i.e. if the teacher is
teaching problem solving and says that you must follow the step-by-step method of 1), 2), 3), etc.,
keep in mind that not all students problem solve using this type of method; begin where the student
is and then take the student to where you want her to be. Do acknowledge where the students are,
know where they are.
23. Any discipline that continues to do what it has always done without overhauling/changing, is a
dead discipline (I don’t know if she said “dead”, but you get the idea)
24. Do everything 3 ways 1) your way 2) dominant other 3) plus one. That means that you teach from
all three perspectives, the second refers to the group that is most prevalent in the classroom (where
are they coming from?), and the third refers to another perspective that you might choose to show
your students – this is modeling diversity
25. Model diversity. When I teach, I use an example from my own culture – this challenges me to
monitor my own speaking, thinking, etc. I have to think about it consciously. It’s not habitual to
come up with multicultural examples, so I have to think about it consciously. I have to read about
it, learn it.
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A sample assignment from a biology class. How does this fit into to Banks’ theory? How might
it be culturally responsive and how is it not?
SOME IMPORTANT SCIENTISTS
African American Scientists
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) Astronomer
George Washington Carver (1864-1943) Agricultural Researcher, applied science
Ernest E. Just (1883-1941) Research Biologist
Charles H. Turner (1867-1923) Biologist
Matthew Henson (1865-1955) Explorer, North Pole
Percy Julian (1899-1975) Research Chemist
Shirley Jackson (1946-) Physicist
Women in Science
Alice Hamilton (1869-1970) Industrial Medicine
Florence Rena Sabin (1871-1953) Public Health Physician
Lise Meitner (1878-1968) Nuclear Physicist
Leta S. Hollingworth (1886-1939) Educational Psychologist
Rachel Fuller Brown (1898- ) Biochemist
Gladys Anderson Emerson (1903- ) Biochemist and Nutritionist
Maria Goeppert Mayer (1906-1972) Nuclear Physicist
Myra Adele Logan (1909-1977) Physician and Surgeon
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910- ) Crystallographer
Jane C. Wright (1920- ) Physician and Chemotherapist
Rosalyn S. Yalow (1921 - ) Nuclear Physicist in Medicine
Sylvia Earle Mead (1935- ) Marine Biologist
CRITERIA FOR BIOLOGIST PAPER
I.
The Paper
A.
Content of your report
1. Introduction (paragraph #1)
_____/10 POINTS
- Briefly describe the purpose of your paper, include the name of the scientist.
- Describe why you chose the person.
- In 1 or 2 sentences give an overview your paper. Describe what the rest of your paper is about. For example:
In this paper, I describe two major discoveries made by Dr. X, a bioastronomist, and discuss how her work will
influence the way that science studies life on other planets such as Mars.
2. (Paragraphs # 2 & 3)
_____/10 POINTS
Describe your biologist's major discovery. Use examples from your reading. What did he/she do? How did he/she do it?
Why was/is this discovery important to science?
3. Summary and conclusions (Paragraph 4)
_____/10 POINTS
Describe how your biologist's work influences us today or how his/her work will affect us in the future. Include your
opinion about this scientist's work.
B. Structure of your paper
Title, effective and appropriate
Correct spelling and grammar
Clearly expressed thoughts
Within word limits
Bibliography (At least 3 references, correct format)
II. The Poster
Originality- Uniquely designed
Content- Summarize major findings in bullet format
TOTAL POINTS
_____/10 POINTS
_____/2 pts
_____/2 pts
_____/2 pts
_____/2 pts
_____/2 pts
_____/10 POINTS
_____/5
_____/5
_____/50 POINTS
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Science for All
My philosophy for becoming a culturally
responsive science teacher
Strategies for my classroom & for working
with individuals
1) recognizing our own and others’ worlds
Banks: the knowledge construction process
2) developing relationships to form inclusive
communities
Banks: prejudice reduction & equity pedagogy
3) providing access (to the culture of science
and school) through curriculum and instruction
Banks: content integration
4) critiquing, challenging, and changing the
culture of school and school science.
Banks: empowering school culture and social
structure
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